Freedom's Plow Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGH IJDDDD AKKLMNNOIIODH PQMMRST UVWFXXBYBYBYZY A2BBBB2TBTKTC2TBBBKK C2TWT C2D2D2D2D2D2D2D2D2E2 D2WD2F2TGPD2PT B2G2WD2QD2H2SI2J2PB2 K2L2M2SSAN2B2QD2O2YS S P2Q2R2S2T2YT2QYU2V2V 2YV2G2UD2W2QXX2N2X2J XN2 ID2SY2WZ2D2J2J2D2WGX JX TN2N2V2XWN2WA3ATG2K2 L2XQD2D2TQTXPXB3PYXQ D2P PYU2V2PQXPQXPXV2When a man starts out with nothing | A |
When a man starts out with his hands | B |
Empty but clean | C |
When a man starts to build a world | D |
He starts first with himself | E |
And the faith that is in his heart | F |
The strength there | G |
The will there to build | H |
- | |
First in the heart is the dream | I |
Then the mind starts seeking a way | J |
His eyes look out on the world | D |
On the great wooded world | D |
On the rich soil of the world | D |
On the rivers of the world | D |
- | |
The eyes see there materials for building | A |
See the difficulties too and the obstacles | K |
The mind seeks a way to overcome these obstacles | K |
The hand seeks tools to cut the wood | L |
To till the soil and harness the power of the waters | M |
Then the hand seeks other hands to help | N |
A community of hands to help | N |
Thus the dream becomes not one man s dream alone | O |
But a community dream | I |
Not my dream alone but our dream | I |
Not my world alone | O |
But your world and my world | D |
Belonging to all the hands who build | H |
- | |
A long time ago but not too long ago | P |
Ships came from across the sea | Q |
Bringing the Pilgrims and prayer makers | M |
Adventurers and booty seekers | M |
Free men and indentured servants | R |
Slave men and slave masters all new | S |
To a new world America | T |
- | |
With billowing sails the galleons came | U |
Bringing men and dreams women and dreams | V |
In little bands together | W |
Heart reaching out to heart | F |
Hand reaching out to hand | X |
They began to build our land | X |
Some were free hands | B |
Seeking a greater freedom | Y |
Some were indentured hands | B |
Hoping to find their freedom | Y |
Some were slave hands | B |
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom | Y |
But the word was there always | Z |
Freedom | Y |
- | |
Down into the earth went the plow | A2 |
In the free hands and the slave hands | B |
In indentured hands and adventurous hands | B |
Turning the rich soil went the plow in many hands | B |
That planted and harvested the food that fed | B2 |
And the cotton that clothed America | T |
Clang against the trees went the ax into many hands | B |
That hewed and shaped the rooftops of America | T |
Splash into the rivers and the seas went the boat hulls | K |
That moved and transported America | T |
Crack went the whips that drove the horses | C2 |
Across the plains of America | T |
Free hands and slave hands | B |
Indentured hands adventurous hands | B |
White hands and black hands | B |
Held the plow handles | K |
Ax handles hammer handles | K |
Launched the boats and whipped the horses | C2 |
That fed and housed and moved America | T |
Thus together through labor | W |
All these hands made America | T |
- | |
Labor Out of labor came villages | C2 |
And the towns that grew cities | D2 |
Labor Out of labor came the rowboats | D2 |
And the sailboats and the steamboats | D2 |
Came the wagons and the coaches | D2 |
Covered wagons stage coaches | D2 |
Out of labor came the factories | D2 |
Came the foundries came the railroads | D2 |
Came the marts and markets shops and stores | D2 |
Came the mighty products moulded manufactured | E2 |
Sold in shops piled in warehouses | D2 |
Shipped the wide world over | W |
Out of labor white hands and black hands | D2 |
Came the dream the strength the will | F2 |
And the way to build America | T |
Now it is Me here and You there | G |
Now it s Manhattan Chicago | P |
Seattle New Orleans | D2 |
Boston and El Paso | P |
Now it s the U S A | T |
- | |
A long time ago but not too long ago a man said | B2 |
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL | G2 |
ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR | W |
WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS | D2 |
AMONG THESE LIFE LIBERTY | Q |
AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS | D2 |
His name was Jefferson There were slaves then | H2 |
But in their hearts the slaves believed him too | S |
And silently too for granted | I2 |
That what he said was also meant for them | J2 |
It was a long time ago | P |
But not so long ago at that Lincoln said | B2 |
NO MAN IS GOOD ENOUGH | K2 |
TO GOVERN ANOTHER MAN | L2 |
WITHOUT THAT OTHER S CONSENT | M2 |
There were slaves then too | S |
But in their hearts the slaves knew | S |
What he said must be meant for every human being | A |
Else it had no meaning for anyone | N2 |
Then a man said | B2 |
BETTER TO DIE FREE | Q |
THAN TO LIVE SLAVES | D2 |
He was a colored man who had been a slave | O2 |
But had run away to freedom | Y |
And the slaves knew | S |
What Frederick Douglass said was true | S |
- | |
With John Brown at Harper s Ferry Negroes died | P2 |
John Brown was hung | Q2 |
Before the Civil War days were dark | R2 |
And nobody knew for sure | S2 |
When freedom would triumph | T2 |
quot Or if it would quot thought some | Y |
But others new it had to triumph | T2 |
In those dark days of slavery | Q |
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom | Y |
The slaves made up a song | U2 |
Keep Your Hand On The Plow Hold On | V2 |
That song meant just what it said Hold On | V2 |
Freedom will come | Y |
Keep Your Hand On The Plow Hold On | V2 |
Out of war it came bloody and terrible | G2 |
But it came | U |
Some there were as always | D2 |
Who doubted that the war would end right | W2 |
That the slaves would be free | Q |
Or that the union would stand | X |
But now we know how it all came out | X2 |
Out of the darkest days for people and a nation | N2 |
We know now how it came out | X2 |
There was light when the battle clouds rolled away | J |
There was a great wooded land | X |
And men united as a nation | N2 |
- | |
America is a dream | I |
The poet says it was promises | D2 |
The people say it is promises that will come true | S |
The people do not always say things out loud | Y2 |
Nor write them down on paper | W |
The people often hold | Z2 |
Great thoughts in their deepest hearts | D2 |
And sometimes only blunderingly express them | J2 |
Haltingly and stumblingly say them | J2 |
And faultily put them into practice | D2 |
The people do not always understand each other | W |
But there is somewhere there | G |
Always the trying to understand | X |
And the trying to say | J |
quot You are a man Together we are building our land quot | X |
- | |
America | T |
Land created in common | N2 |
Dream nourished in common | N2 |
Keep your hand on the plow Hold on | V2 |
If the house is not yet finished | X |
Don t be discouraged builder | W |
If the fight is not yet won | N2 |
Don t be weary soldier | W |
The plan and the pattern is here | A3 |
Woven from the beginning | A |
Into the warp and woof of America | T |
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL | G2 |
NO MAN IS GOOD ENOUGH | K2 |
TO GOVERN ANOTHER MAN | L2 |
WITHOUT HIS CONSENT | X |
BETTER DIE FREE | Q |
THAN TO LIVE SLAVES | D2 |
Who said those things Americans | D2 |
Who owns those words America | T |
Who is America You me | Q |
We are America | T |
To the enemy who would conquer us from without | X |
We say NO | P |
To the enemy who would divide | X |
And conquer us from within | B3 |
We say NO | P |
FREEDOM | Y |
BROTHERHOOD | X |
DEMOCRACY | Q |
To all the enemies of these great words | D2 |
We say NO | P |
- | |
A long time ago | P |
An enslaved people heading toward freedom | Y |
Made up a song | U2 |
Keep Your Hand On The Plow Hold On | V2 |
The plow plowed a new furrow | P |
Across the field of history | Q |
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped | X |
From that seed a tree grew is growing will ever grow | P |
That tree is for everybody | Q |
For all America for all the world | X |
May its branches spread and shelter grow | P |
Until all races and all peoples know its shade | X |
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW HOLD ON | V2 |
Langston Hughes
(1)
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